The 24-year-old Chestnut was facing his long-time competitive eating nemesis, Japanese former-champion Takeru Kobayashi, and tensions were high. Several thousand spectators turned out to watch the contest, which was televised on American news channels around the country.

Chestnut ate harder and faster than ever before, but after swallowing 59 hot-dogs in 10 minues, both he and Kobayashi were tied for the championship. In the end it all came down to a 5 hot-dog deathmatch tie-break, in which Chestnut (just) came out on top.

“I knew I’d be able to do it and push through the pain,” he told the crowd. “I was pushed by the audience. I love you New York.”

To celebrate America’s victory, here is a gallery of the world’s greatest competitive eating photography. How long before this is featured at the Olympics?

I don’t really go along with all this Blackburn & Burnley malarkey; instead I prefer to think we’ve moved on from having them as rivals and leave them to console themselves with Preston & Blackpool.

However, some of the photos on the Clarets Mad website are worth looking out, they simply don’t do much to help themselves do they? Look at the pics yourselves, particularly the group on pic 7, front row – didn’t realise they were re-making “Wrong Turn”…….

A controversial operation which gave American model Maxi Mounds the world’s largest breasts has been banned over safety fears.

Mounds, a stripper and porn actress (who would have guessed?) is famous for her 61MMM size breasts, which were recognised in 2005 by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest artificial globes on the globe.

However, the massive boobies are the result of a dangerous, and disgusting-sounding proceedure known as polypropylene string breast implants, where the aim is to continuously irritate the breast tissue so it fills with naturally-produced goo.

According to The Sun, the operation has been banned in America and the European Union because of fears over safety. It’s not clear if the operation has been banned recently, or if this story has just erupted based on a few quotes Mounds gave to some newspapers.

But who cares about journalistic integrity when it comes to breasts that size? We know they’re not sexy, but yet we can’t look away. It’s like an eclipse.

Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has blasted the ‘arrogance’ of the football world as he prepares to turn his back on the game for good.

The Eagles supremo insists he has had enough of a sport he brands an “insidious, insipid, egotistical, greedy, self-motivated game”, and believes the problem starts right at the top with the likes of UEFA president Michel Platini.

“Michel Platini is going in front of the European Union to identify six sports which should have a special exclusion from human rights,” Jordan told the News of the World.